Flexible urine drainage bags, conventionally formed of peripherally sealed vinyl sheets, incorporate, in most instances, an elongate elastomeric outlet tube with a proximal end communicating with the interior of the bag at a low point therein. The distal end of the outlet tube is normally slidably received within a closed-end housing affixed to the bag above the proximal end of the tube.
In order to slidably engage the free distal end of the tube within the housing, the tube is flexed, normally adjacent the bag-engaged proximal end thereof, to align the free tube end with the housing. The received tube end is frictionally retained, both because of a snug engagement of the tube end within the housing and in light of pressure of the received tube end against the housing wall arising from the natural tendency for the tube to straighten or return to its unflexed position.
The distal end portion of the outlet tube is periodically disengaged from its secure "parked" position in the housing for an emptying of the vinyl drainage bag to a suitable drainage container. While the outlet tube is normally provided with a shut-off clamp, the distal end portion of the tube remains free and, upon release from the housing, tends to snap or spring outward due to the resilient nature of the outlet tube. Such a springing action results in an outward flicking or spraying of residual droplets of urine which accumulate within the outlet tube during normal usage of the drainage bag. Thus, the user or health care worker is exposed to such droplets which, not infrequently, fall both on the hands and the face and expose the individual to a great potential for contamination. This problem has become particularly acute in light of the increasing incidence of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and the increasing concern among health care workers of contamination from the body fluids of patients.